key examinable areas– kaplan

ACCA F4 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Here are some suggestions of key areas which may be tested in June 2014:
English Legal System
Legislation/sources of law
Judicial precedent
Criminal and civil law
Contract Law
Offer and acceptance
Postal rule
Breach of contract/damages
Express and implied terms
Condition/warranty/innominate terms
Tort
Contributory negligence/volenti non fit injuria
Economic loss/special relationship
Causation
Professional misstatement
Passing off
Employment Law
Redundancy/dismissal
Employee v Self-employed
Agency/partnership
How agency relationship arises
Termination of partnership
Liability of partners
Company Law
Separate personality/lifting the veil
Incorporation procedure
Promoter/pre-incorporation contract
Statutory books
Choice of business structure/private vs public company
Issuing of shares
Types of shares
Class rights
Reduction of share capital
Appointment/removal of directors
Directors duties
Types of directors
Directors authority
Meetings
Auditors
Corporate governance
Fraudulent Behaviour
Money laundering
Insider dealing
Market abuse
Fraudulent and wrongful trading
NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA F5 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Here are some suggestions of key areas which may be tested in June 2014:
Specialist Cost and management accounting techniques
Target costing
Lifecycle Costing
Environmental accounting
Decision Making techniques
Relevant costs
Limiting factors
Shut down decisions
Payoff tables
The value of perfect information
Budgeting
Different types of budgetary systems
Types of budgets
Quantitative analysis
Behavioural aspects of budgeting
Standard costing and variance analysis
Different types of standard costs used in budgets
Mix and yield variances
Planning and operational variances
Behavioural aspects of standard costing
Performance management systems, measurements and control
Transfer Pricing
ROI and RI
The scope of performance measurement

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA F6 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Income tax
A detailed income tax computation
Husband and wife
Employment income
Some exempt income/benefits
Employed vs.self-employed
Residence
Cash basis accounting
Losses – choice of relief/tax saving
Mileage allowance
National insurance
Self assessment
Interest/penalty – explanation/calculation
Child benefit tax charge
Corporation tax
Possibly a straddling and/or short period of account
Long period of account
Definition of a CAP
Chargeable gains to calculate, with rollover relief
Single company losses and / or group loss relief – with some tax planning
Residence
Associates
Penalties for late filing of return and / or interest on late payment
Quarterly instalment payments
VAT
Separate part of question 1 or 2 or whole question 4/5
VAT return – including some discounts and impaired debts relief
Pre-registration input VAT
Deregistration
Default surcharges and errors
TOGC
Overseas
Flat rate scheme
Payment dates
Capital gains tax
Husband and wife making disposals
Takeovers
Wasting assets or chattels
Exempt assets
Rollover relief
Inheritance tax
Transfer of unused NRB between spouses
Death estate calculation
Sundry topics for questions 4 and 5
IHT (full question)
Comparative scenario or other new style question
Self assessment

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA F7 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Q1
3 company SOFP or consolidated statement of profit or loss with SOFP workings to possibly include goodwill, retained earnings, NCI. Adjustments to include: PURP, intra-group sales, deferred consideration, share exchange, impairment, revaluation, fair value adjustment
Q2
Published accounts to include statement of profit or loss, statement of financial position and statement of changes in equity from trial balance. Possible adjustments to include: revenue recognition, depreciation, revaluation, tax & deferred tax, convertible loan, share issue.
Q3
Either a mix of statement of cash flow with some ratio analysis, or an question involving ratios.
Q4/Q5
The framework, intangible assets, events after the reporting date, earnings per share.

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA F8 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Audit Framework: Confidentiality / conflicts of interest / audit committees
Internal Audit: Outsourcing, VFM
Planning and Risk: Audit risk
Internal Control: Payroll system (including tests of control)
Audit Evidence: Purchases; payroll; inventory, review engagements
Completion & reporting: Going Concern (ISA 580), Evaluation of misstatements (ISA 450) and Auditor’s reports
Specific standards/topics:
Elements of internal control (ISA 315)
Inherent limitations of internal control
Risk assessment procedures (ISA 315)
Audit planning (ISA 300)
Expectation gap
Sampling (ISA 530)
Auditing accounting estimates (ISA 540)
Please be aware that recent diets for F8 have ranged from those requiring knowledge of the content of a broad range of standards (some quite peripheral to the syllabus) and those requiring grounding in the core auditing concepts/techniques. Therefore, students should be prepared for either possibilities in the June 2014 paper, or a combination of the two.

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA F9 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Investment appraisal
We can safely assume this topic will be examined at every sitting and carry a substantial number of marks. The most common technique assessed is NPV with inflation and taxation although be prepared for a twist, possibly involving some of the more basic methods of the applications of NPV such as replacement analysis or capital rationing. Lease v buy was examined in the most recent sitting. It is also worth bearing in mind that IRR has not been tested for three years so may pop up in some form.
Working Capital Management
Another key topic which is likely to examined every time. Exams to date have covered much of this topic, in particular receivables management but it’s been a while since we’ve seen the more numerical aspects surrounding cash management. A key discursive element is to highlight the working capital needs of the company in the scenario and appropriate funding strategies. Inventory management was tested heavily in the most recent sitting, along with a discussion on invoice discounting and factoring.
Valuations
This has been examined in virtually every F9 exam to date, but interestingly enough, not in the most recent sitting. I believe this is a topic worth being on top of for the next sitting. Cash flow based values have yet to be examined although the PE ratio and dividend valuation methods still appear to be the more examinable areas. There are often high scoring discursive elements in this area of the syllabus for being able to discuss the implications of something on the value of the business or perhaps the relative methods of the valuation methods.
Business Finance
This topic has been heavily examined recently and in particular the impact of financing on ratios is an area the examiner likes. It is important to be able to discuss the impact that different policies may have on a company by being able to both calculate and interpret financial ratios. It is worth focussing on the relatively new syllabus area of Islamic Finance as it can carry a fairly generous amount marks for relatively little knowledge.
Cost of Capital
This topic features in virtually every exam to a greater or lesser extent. Candidates should feel confident when calculating the overall cost of capital (WACC) and going on to discuss the impact of the cost of capital on investments. The most recent sitting required calculation of a project specific cost of equity using asset and equity betas.
Risk Management
Within this section of the syllabus, foreign exchange risk has been examined more often than interest rate risk. However, both are fairly under-examined areas of the syllabus as a whole and these topics did not feature in the most recent sitting at all. I believe this is a topic worth being on top of for the next sitting.
The Financial Management Function and The Financial Management Environment
We can probably expect one specific topic from these syllabus areas to feature as a tag on discursive element within one question on the exam. This part of the question can provide some easier knowledge-based marks and therefore is worth some focus. The examiner repeatedly comments that these topics are not handled by students as well as he would expect/ like.

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA P1 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Here are some suggestions of key areas which may be tested in June 2014 (note – these form the basis for the QB this sitting):
Corporate governance critique and improvements
Effective internal control systems, reporting within differing jurisdictions
Influence of and intervention by institutional investors
Function and importance of internal audit
Risk definition, analysis of risk and the role of the Board of Directors
Risk correlation and strategies for management of such risks
Kohlberg’s human moral development theory
Ethical standpoints and their application to business decisions
Corporate codes of ethics critique and improvements
Tucker’s ethical decision making model
Social and environmental footprint
Sustainability accounting

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA P2 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Here are some suggestions of key areas which may be tested in June 2014:
Q1 Groups and ethics
The examiner has not tested the consolidation of an overseas subsidiary since 2011. There have been many questions on the statement of financial position in recent sittings, so a statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income seems more likely.
Q2 and Q3
Some core areas that have not been examined in discursive form recently include:
Deferred tax
Related parties
IFRS 10 and the definition of control
De?recognition and impairment of financial instruments
Revenue and provisions continue to be tested regularly and should always be considered key topics.
Q4 – Essay?style question
Comments made in the most recent examiner’s report suggest that the current focus of question 4 is existing standards. Due to the release of a recent discussion paper, a question on the adequacy of the existing Framework would seem to fit this brief well. European regulators are also focusing on how companies have accounted for and disclosed goodwill impairments (IAS 36), so this would be a timely issue.

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA P3 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Project management and benefits management
Supply chain management and the value chain
Strategy evaluation
Managing strategic change and culture
Decision making techniques

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA P4 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

The current examiner has expressed his desire to move the paper away from the highly technical papers set in the past, and to make them more strategic and practical. This has been a feature of the last few exam papers set by the current examiner, and is expected to continue, particularly in the new 50 mark compulsory section A question. At the February 2013 ACCA Lecturers’ Conference, the examiner explained that question spotting is dangerous at this level – it is important that students should study all parts of the syllabus in detail. However, for June 2014, I would advise students to focus on the following core syllabus topics in particular:
Corporate reconstruction – comparison of stakeholder position on a liquidation and a reconstruction
Black Scholes option pricing model
Business valuation, especially using the free cash flow to firm methodology
Net Present Value – including foreign currency cash flows
Currency hedging – forwards, money market hedges, options, futures

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA P5 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Mission, CSFs and KPIs
Regulation
Benchmarking
Risk
Budgeting (perhaps beyond budgeting)
Divisional performance appraisal including BCG
Performance prism (and stakeholders) and perhaps balanced scorecard/ building block model
Quality
Evaluation of performance and a performance management report (perhaps comparing to VBM as an alternative)
EMA
Ethics/CSR
Corporate failure
Value chain

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA P6 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Here are some suggestions of key areas which may be tested in June 2014:
Corporation tax
Group relief / consortium relief
Capital gains groups: NGNL
Overseas aspects: CFCs
Anti-avoidance: pre entry capital losses and trading losses
R&D
Close companies
Capital gains
Reliefs: rollover, PPR and letting
Inheritance tax
BPR
Deed of variation
New IHT rate for charitable legacies
Death estate computation
Income tax
Income tax comps at marginal rates
Benefits: car
Share incentive plans
Overseas aspects
Redundancy
Personal financial planning
VCT / seed EIS
Trusts
Description and income tax aspects
VAT
Groups
Land and buildings
Scenarios
Employed vs. self-employed
Sole trader vs. company
Salary vs. dividend
Lease vs. buy assets: net cost
IHT vs CGT for gifts
Stamp duty and SDLT
Ethics

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.

ACCA P7 Key Examinable Areas for June 2014

Core areas (as per examiner’s approach article) likely to be examined in every paper:
Engagement planning and risk assessment (Business risk & risk of material misstatement)
Engagement procedures (or evidence)
Ethics and professional issues
Completion (matters to consider/evidence on file) and engagement reporting
Current topics.
Subjects of recent articles:
Reporting on audited financial statements – significant changes proposed
The Control Environment
A question of ethics
Planning an audit of Financial Statements
Completing the audit
Significant topics not examined for at least 18 months:
Prospective financial information
Related party transactions
Relying on the work of others
Auditing accounting estimates
Outsourcing
Review of interim FS
Tendering
Please be aware that the whole syllabus is examinable. Whilst the above topics are likely to be examined in forthcoming sittings this does not mean candidates should avoid other areas of the syllabus in their exam preparation.
The examiner will set 5 questions, which will all have multiple elements, so it is likely that topics other than the ones noted above will be examined in the June 2014 exam.
The examiner has noted that questions will not be restricted to topic areas (e.g. question 5 will not necessarily be on audit reporting) and instead we should expect to see topics spread across a number of questions.
In addition, please note the case study questions in section A will have the requirements embedded in the question (see the article from the examiner ‘Changes in question style’).
4 professional marks will be available within one of the section A case study questions.
Finally, please note that the questions in the exam now have a fixed number of marks as follows:
Question 1: 35 marks
Question 2: 25 marks
Questions 3 to 5: 20 marks each

NOTE: These should only be used in conjunction with proper studying. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully. The tips are based on Kaplan’s experience and understanding of the ACCA exams and will help focus your last minute revision.